"I’ve got a lot to say and no one else really seems to be.”
You'll likely remember Kim K's Met Gala look this year. She controversially decided to wear Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday" dress from 1962 which, until now, has been preserved at the Museum of Art.
Trigger warning: discusses themes of eating disorders and weight loss
She spoke openly about losing weight to fit into the dress, which many fans and celebrities alike slammed her for.
One of those celebrities was Riverdale star Lili Reinhart, who posted a pretty to-the-point Instagram post explaining why Kim's throwaway comments about losing weight for an occasion could be triggering for those suffering from their own body image issues or eating disorders.
While she didn't reference Kim by name, at the time she said: “So wrong. So fucked on 100s of levels. To openly admit to starving yourself for the sake of the Met Gala. When you know very well that millions of young men and women are looking up to you and listening to your every word."
Reinhart continued, “The ignorance is other-worldly and disgusting. Please stop supporting these stupid, harmful celebrities whose entire image revolves around their bodies. I am not generally an angry person but I swear to god, the toxicity of this industry sometimes really gets to me and I have to do my little Instagram-story rants to release my rage.”
Now, she's spoken for the first time about why she feels so passionately about the topic.
Speaking to IndieWire, she said: “I definitely go on rants on social media, I’m very guilty of that."
"I don’t like to just sit idly by, I don’t like to keep my mouth shut. I know people on Twitter hate me. There are articles and everyone is like, "God, does this girl ever shut up and stop complaining?" No, actually, I don’t, because I’ve got a lot to say and no one else really seems to be.”
It's a subject close to home as she herself has struggled with disordered eating in the past. She explains: “I’ve certainly been to the point where I thought, I need help, that I’m not OK mentally, that I wish I could go somewhere."
“Unfortunately, a lot of the resources are $90,000 retreats in Malibu, and I’m not about to just go sit on a lounge chair and have therapy for five days and be like, ‘Cool! I’m better!’ I wish there were better resources for mental health, and in the sense that people need to be taken more seriously when they’re struggling.”
Kudos to the star for being so open about her own struggles and paving the way for a new generation of - hopefully, more positive - body image.
